OREANDA-NEWS. On July 07, 2009 Representatives of the international donor community will meet in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv for their bi-annual Assembly meeting to discuss the state and progress of the efforts to transform the Chernobyl sarcophagus into a safe and secure site. On the following day the Assembly will pay a site visit to the plant, reported the press-centre of EBRD.

The Assembly meeting and the site visit will provide donor representatives with an update on recent developments and the opportunity to examine progress with their own eyes during the site visit.

An international consortium is currently working on the final design of the New Safe Confinement which will be built over the damaged reactor 4. Completion of the construction work is currently planned for 2012/13. To deal with spent fuel from reactors 1-3 work is also continuing on the completion of the Interim Storage Facility 2.

The EBRD’s Nuclear Safety Department has been engaged in the international efforts to mitigate the consequences of the 1986 Chernobyl accident since the1990s. It is currently managing the Nuclear Safety Account which is financing the decommissioning of reactors 1-3 and the Chernobyl Shelter Fund which deals with the confinement for the damaged reactor 4.

In February 2009 the EBRD itself became a Chernobyl donor when the Bank provided €135 million from its own resources to the projects. The EBRD-delegation at the upcoming assembly meeting will be led by Vice President Horst Reichenbach. Hans Blix, chair of the Chernobyl Shelter Fund, will preside over the meeting of the Assembly.

The Chernobyl Shelter Fund has so far received contributions and donations of about €800 million from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, European Community, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The Nuclear Safety Account has received contributions over EUR300 million from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, European Community, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.